Goodbye Dhaka

Short post tonight. Promise.

Tomorrow morning, I leave for Rudrapur, in the Dinajpur District. The bus ride will be between 6 and 10 hours. Yes, that’s a really big range of time. But in Bangladesh, we don’t always know. Too many unknowns. Anthony thinks it will be closer to 10 hours. Whoopee.

As my last night in Dhaka, I’m trying to reflect a bit on my experience. It’s been melancholic cleaning and packing up my room. I’ve come to like it. Which must mean that I’ve come to like Dhaka, in one way or another. Riding in the CNG today to my last Bangla class, I tried to be extra perceptive, like I was when I first got in. And yes, I think I have come to like the craziness and busyness that define this city. I passed goats, like usual, and people swimming in a small lake, and the good ol’ National Assembly which I pass every day, and even, for my first time in Bangladesh, an elephant. YES, AN ELEPHANT JUST WALKING DOWN THE ROAD!! It was so exciting! I wanted to get a picture, but it was just before where I needed to get off, and I had to concentrate so the driver didn’t just whiz right by. But still, very exciting.

I have a lot of thoughts about Dhaka that I need to process. I know I’m learning a lot, but at this point, I can’t necessarily put my finger on exactly everything I’m learning. I’m also being challenged. Challenged in ways I didn’t expect. And to be sure, I expected challenges. But I guess to be there and see is always different than sitting comfortably at home in Canada, thinking about ‘exotic travels’ or something. Anyway, perhaps things will solidify in my head a little more once I leave the city.

OR, maybe they’ll all just be swept out of my head by the new experiences and wonders of village life. Snigdha has told me a lot about the differences between Dhaka and village life. They eat different foods, speak differently, act differently, and value different things. I hope not too much, because I’m just getting used to the Dhaka way of things!!

But back to Dhaka for a moment. One of the things it has shown me is my position as a human being on this planet. Now, the easy thing to say is that “I am so fortunate to live in Canada, and come from a good home, and even have the opportunity to visit a country like Bangladesh”. And all of that’s true, and of course I feel that way. How could I not? But what I’m feeling goes beyond that. What is my place in relation to the people I have met – whether those I passed briefly or those I’ve come to know quite well – and how can I help them? Can I even help them? Or can I help some but not others? If so, which ones can I help? Does paying a high price for a CNG because I don’t bargain too seriously for a lower price equal to giving money to an amputee beggar? After all, both are asking me for money so they can feed themselves, or their families, or their bosses families. Right? These are all questions that are spinning around in my head. I think I’ll experience more of this in the village, but maybe after a couple more months I’ll have a few answers.

Other than the elephant story, I’m not entirely sure the purpose/interest/use of this post. Sounds to me like there’s a whole lot I just don’t know right now, and that I can’t effectively process. But I guess maybe I’m just sharing it to try to show you my mental state.

As a tribute to Dhaka, here is a photo of me and Shumon, from that day at Lalbagh Fort. He's a great cook, and has shown me around Dhaka quite a bit. I hope there's someone in Rudrapur who can be just as supportive of my continued transition into Bangladeshi life! The second photo is just of a fleeting moment in Dhaka. On a bus ride that same day, we stopped at an intersection (or was it just a traffic jam??) and looking out my window I saw these men near the side of the river. They were dredging, essentially by hand. Standing over the hole, the one man's holding two long bamboo poles with scoops on the end. He jams them down into the clay/sand, manoeuvres them to close, and pulls it up. The other men watching- they are actually switching off, since it's such hard work. I felt it really represented the labourious nature of daily life in the city.

Anyway, when I talk to you next, I’ll be in Rudrapur.

Until then,

-C

Shumon and I - Lalbagh Fort

Dredging, with very simple tools, by the side of the river.